NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

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Gentlemanrider
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by Gentlemanrider »

I'm in for testing, I run FreeCAD on os X 10.7 and 10.9. I've been [designing, building and playing with slope soaring gliders since 2010 and last year i built my own wire cutter. It's an attempt to get a good price-performance ratio by using 3D printer parts that are widely available from the far east and by printing most of the machine itself. More details here, scroll down for PDF documentation in english and OpenSCAD source file.

The intention in the long run was to have a complete free & open solution, if you compare this technology to 3d printing, well, it sucks. No decent tools and you also have to pay for them.

I'll try to figure out what's in there and let you know ;)

BR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mooqjDA5Eag
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Gentlemanrider
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by Gentlemanrider »

Sorry, I forgot the machine links...

http://fablabgenova.it/mw/index.php?tit ... oam_Cutter
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kwahoo
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by kwahoo »

JMG wrote:
converting G-code on PC and streaming discrete steps to AVR with some buffering.
In this video I'm sending the steps and direction directly (but without buffering) from a script that reads shape topology and transforms it to machine steps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InJrinMZe4A
That's basically my idea. 1-byte protocol:
Steps:
00(-z)(-y)(-x)zyx
Commands (like selecting feed speed):
1xxxxxxx
JMG wrote: Nice project, those sliders are of the kind used in furnitures (like retractable keyboard trays)?
Yes, exactly. They are very cheap ~$3 per pair. There are also some $3 former-military 8-wire steppers (I had to reverse engineer them without datasheet) and l298 drivers. We'll see if my "very poor man" project will work;)
JMG
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by JMG »

Gentlemanrider
if you compare this technology to 3d printing, well, it sucks. No decent tools and you also have to pay for them.
The commercial options that I found are expensive and most of them do only 2D movements.
Your machine looks very similar! Thanks for joining :)
FreeCAD scripts, animations, experiments and more: http://linuxforanengineer.blogspot.com.es/
Open source CNC hot wire cutter project (NiCr): https://github.com/JMG1/NiCr
Exploded Assembly Workbench: https://github.com/JMG1/ExplodedAssembly
JMG
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by JMG »

A quick video of the NiCr workbench current "workflow":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8snH_p_ ... e=youtu.be

I hope it is easy to follow and self-explanatory, but do not hesitate to ask any doubt ;)


Javier
FreeCAD scripts, animations, experiments and more: http://linuxforanengineer.blogspot.com.es/
Open source CNC hot wire cutter project (NiCr): https://github.com/JMG1/NiCr
Exploded Assembly Workbench: https://github.com/JMG1/ExplodedAssembly
jonnor
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by jonnor »

Very nice! CoreXY makes a lot of sense for this usecase.

Greetings from Fellesverkstedet.no (Fablab in Oslo).
JMG
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by JMG »

A little update of the NiCr workbench after re-thinking several features:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMD8KxX-TPg

Now the paths can be linked more freely, the machine zero is coincident with the document origin and more!
FreeCAD scripts, animations, experiments and more: http://linuxforanengineer.blogspot.com.es/
Open source CNC hot wire cutter project (NiCr): https://github.com/JMG1/NiCr
Exploded Assembly Workbench: https://github.com/JMG1/ExplodedAssembly
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microelly2
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by microelly2 »

looks good,
how do you want to take the part out of the machine when the part is completly separated from material block.
I think there should be helper cuts to bring the parts and the waste out.
otherwise the objects fall down and can be cutted again.
JMG
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by JMG »

Thanks microelly :)

I think that every set of parts can be linked without completely breaking the foam block (that is the idea of the two-way links introduced), that should keep them from falling and being cut accidentally.

The parts are extracted breaking the foam block, but I like what you have said about auxiliary cuts and in a first glance seems pretty straightforward to implement. This could reduce the waste too.

Also, somewhere in my TODO list I have annotated to create a virtual foam block (the raw block) to prevent, among other things, the situation of parts falling that you describe.


Javier.
FreeCAD scripts, animations, experiments and more: http://linuxforanengineer.blogspot.com.es/
Open source CNC hot wire cutter project (NiCr): https://github.com/JMG1/NiCr
Exploded Assembly Workbench: https://github.com/JMG1/ExplodedAssembly
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vcode
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Re: NiCr: CNC Hot Wire Cutter

Post by vcode »

Hi Javier, I`m trying "NiCr-dev" after try NiCr-master but in both cases, the SimMachine doesn't appears.

I try also what you comment on the first video in youtube...

"Si tienes instalado el workbench de la rama "dev", abre FreeCAD y haz lo siguiente: Ve al workbench NiCr, y en la consola de python de FreeCAD introduce: import NiCrSerial intro NiCrSerial.ControlPanel() intro El panel de control de la máquina debería aparecer. Con él puedes cargar archivos .nicr y si la máquina está conectada, haciendo click en "start" debería comenzar a moverse. Gracias por el apoyo."

But this is what appears ...

>>> import NiCrSerial
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<input>", line 1, in <module>
File "C:\Program Files\FreeCAD 0.15\Mod\Workbench\NiCrSerial.py", line 1, in <module>
import serial
ImportError: No module named serial

>>> NiCrSerial.ControlPanel()
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<input>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'NiCrSerial' is not defined


Any idea what's happening?
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